Jinxed?
by rookiegirl
Summary: Jillians' feeling a little jinxed and Pete knows just how to lift her spirits.


Disclaimer: These characters, except for one or two, are not mine, only borrowed for literary purposes.

Jinxed?

"Hey, Pete?" Jillian hollered from the kitchen, "Could you please come in here for a minute. I need your help."

Eyes still on the football game that was on television, he got up from where he sat and slowly made his way to the kitchen, where Jillian was getting them something to drink.

"What d'ya need help with, Sunshine?" he asked Jillian, who was standing over by the sink, facing him, with her right hand behind her back and left hand resting on the countertop.

Noticing that she had one hand behind her back, his eyes danced in merriment "Ooh, you have a surprise! Is it for me?"

Jillian couldn't help but chuckle at his playful mood. He'd been like this since they'd come back from visiting her family two weeks ago, over Thanksgiving. It had been a bittersweet visit that had allowed her to bury a painful part of her past and begin a promising future with Pete, the man she loved.

"No, I don't have a surprise. I have a problem." and pulling her right hand from behind her back, he could see that her hand was scrunched, along with part of dishtowel, into a drinking glass. "I'm stuck" she stated, shooting him a look that said 'I dare you to laugh at me.'

Taking her glass ensconced hand and examining it more closely while trying not to laugh, he chose his words carefully, settling on "Yeah, I guess you are. Why'd you…?"

Not at all amused, she held up her left hand to stop any further questioning and replied "Because I was bored, that's why. Now, can you please help me figure out how to get out of this, or should I just get the hammer and whack it a good one?"

Seeing the look on her face, he wanted to laugh but figured that doing so wouldn't be in his best interest. "No, you're not going to do that. Just give me a minute to think of something."

As he continued to examine her hand, Jillian just stood there, tapping the countertop with her left hand. She knew that he was trying really hard not to laugh, because she too, was trying not to laugh at herself.

Standing in front of her, with his head cocked to one side, and obviously deep in thought, he finally said "Dish soap. We'll squirt a little down in the side and then you can wiggle your hand around a little and slide it out."

"If I could wiggle my hand, I would've already wiggled out the glass!" Jillian said in an exasperated voice.

"Well, let's just try it, okay?" Pete said as he grabbed the bottle of dish soap off of the back of the sink area and squirted just a small amount down into the opening of the glass, then said "Okay, wiggle it."

Jillian put her left hand around the glass and, squeezing slightly, tried to give it a small twist.

With a sudden 'pop', the bottom part of the glass broke in her hand, slicing into her palm and resulting in a two inch jagged cut.

"Ouch!" she cried out as the blood started flowing from the open gash.

Grabbing a clean dishtowel, Pete wet it and wrapped it tightly around Jillians' hand. "I think you're going to need stitches."

Trying not to cry because of the pain of the injury, Jillian clenched her jaws tight and said "Great! Now I'm bleeding...and I'm still stuck!"

Sparing a quick glance at her right hand, he could see that it was still encased in its' glass prison, only now it was open at the top and the bottom.

"Maybe if you pull on the glass my hand will come out now since the suction seal is broken."

"NO!" Pete said rather briskly. "We're going to Central Receiving, they can get your hand out...and probably a lot more safely than you can, right now."

Pete took another look at the dishtowel around her hand. He didn't like what he was seeing. The blood had seeped through quickly; much, too quickly. _That has to be one very bad cut, _he thought.

Guiding her by the elbow they walked towards the door. About four steps away, Jillian turned toward Pete and started to say something, but couldn't quite get the words to come out.

Sensing that there was a problem, he looked at her face and seeing how pale that she was, he knew immediately that he would very soon have an unconscious Jillian on his hands. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, he saw her eyes roll and she started to fall.

Catching her just before she could hit the floor, he managed to lay her down gently before going to the phone to call for an ambulance.

Waiting for the ambulance seemed to take an eternity, but was in reality less than ten minutes. All he could do was keep pressure on her injury and talk to her, even though she wasn't hearing him; she was in an unconscious oblivion.

Twenty minutes later, Jillian was being rushed into the emergency room exam area and Pete was trying to fill out the necessary forms for the nurse at the desk, though his mind was not on the task at hand, but on the injured woman in the exam room.

Handing over the forms, he asked the nurse "Can I please go in there, now? I'm not going to get in the way. I just need to be in there."

"I'm sorry Mr. Malloy, but you're going to have to wait out here. The doctor will come out and talk with you after he's finished taking care of your friend." The nurse then gestured toward the waiting area indicating that the discussion was over.

Turning to leave nurses station, Pete decided that he didn't like being dismissed so abruptly so he turned back towards the nurse and decided to give it one more try.

Smiling his nicest smile, and casually leaning against the desk, he cleared his throat and said "Excuse me, Nurse Jenkins?"

"Yes, Mr. Malloy?"

"I know that you're just doing your job and all, but you see, that woman in there is very special to me. I would lay down my life for her and I just really need to be in there. You know, just to make sure that she's okay. You can understand that, can't you? I really won't get in the way; I just need to be in there with her."

Something in his eyes touched the nurse's heartstrings and she said,

"I'll tell you what, if you take a seat over there, I'll go in and see if I can find anything out for you. That's the best that I can do."

Nodding his head and smiling slightly, realizing that he wasn't going to get any farther, he said "Thank you. That would mean a lot to me." He then went over and began pacing up and down in the waiting area.

True to her word, Nurse Jenkins went into the examining room to check on Jillian. After a few minutes, she was back out and walking toward Pete, with a smile on her face. He immediately stopped pacing and walked toward her.

"Mr. Malloy, the doctor is just about finished stitching up your friend's hand. She's doing fine. She's awake and looking a tad embarrassed about having gotten the glass stuck on her hand to begin with. He'll be out shortly and then you'll be allowed to go in." and then as an afterthought she said, "Oh! By the way, Miss Martinez wanted me to tell you to 'quit pacing and sit down and relax; everything's fine.' Those were her words exactly. It seems that she knows you well." She threw him an amused look before going back to her desk.

Shaking his head slightly, Pete smiled and sighed in relief as he took a seat in the waiting area.

A short time later, the doctor emerged from the exam room and looked over toward the waiting area. Pete, having seen him come out was on his feet and walking toward the doctor in no time at all.

Reaching out a hand to the doctor, he said "Hi, I'm Pete Malloy; I came in with Jillian Martinez. How is she? Can I go see her now?"

"Whoa, slow down there Mr. Malloy." the doctor chuckled as he shook Petes' hand. "I'm Dr. Jones and I treated Miss Martinez. She's going to be fine. It took fifteen stitches to close up the gash, so her hand's going to be sore for a few days. I'll give her a prescription for some mild painkillers and an antibiotic. She's to keep the bandage on and dry; I want her to come back tomorrow to have a fresh bandage put on and to have the sutures checked for seepage. I'll then want to see her back here in one week; in the meantime, she is not to use that hand for any reason until I see her again. Keep an eye on her and if you notice any heavy seepage, or bright red blood, bring her back in immediately. You'll also need to watch for any signs of swelling or redness."

Pete felt like his head was going to bust with all of the information that the doctor was relaying to him. Seeing his perplexed look, the doctor chuckled and said "Don't worry, the nurse will have all of the instructions written down for you."

"Thanks, Dr. Jones. Uhm, can I go in now?"

"Of course, of course. Go right on in, I'll have the nurse bring in the discharge papers and the prescriptions in just a little bit."

"Thanks, again. Oh, by the way, what about the remaining part of the glass on her right hand?"

"Oh, that took just a few taps of a soft mallet and it was off without any problems. The dishtowel provided a sufficient amount of protection against lacerations." and then giving a soft chuckle he said "Maybe you should've let her try the hammer to begin with."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind for the next time she decides to wedge her hand in a drinking glass" Pete retorted as the doctor was walking away. Turning on his heel, he headed for the examining room.

Opening the door and peeking inside the sterile examining room, he could see that Jillian was propped into a sitting position on the bed, her left hand heavily wrapped in gauze. She had a pain pinched look on her face.

The nurse had just finished with clean up and was speaking to Jillian, and seeing Pete at the door, she said "Oh, come on in. We've just finished up with her and I'm on my way to get her discharge papers and release instructions" she then headed for the door.

As she left, Pete came in and walked over to the bed. Leaning down and giving Jillian a quick kiss, he said "Hey Sunshine, how are you feeling?"

"Like an idiot for sticking my hand in a glass and getting it stuck."

"Now come on, don't say that. It could've happened to anyone, right?"

"Don't coddle me, Pete. I should've known better, but noo-ooooh, I just had to wipe out every last bit of water from that glass before I could drop a couple of ice cubes in it! How brainy is that?"

Laughing gently, he replied "Well, when you put it like that, it does seem a trifle…uhm…well…uhm…"

Cutting him off, she said "Forget it, Pete. There's no tactful way to say that it was just a plain 'ole dumb move on my part."

"Okay, I'll quit while I'm ahead, then."

"Good, now can you please just take me home?" Jillian asked in a slightly strained voice that sounded tired.

Smiling at her he said "I'm going to go call Jim and have him pick us up. I rode in the ambulance with you, remember?"

"Uhm-huh, I remember…you were holding my hand…uh, I mean my arm."

"Yeah, 'cause both of your hands were preoccupied." He said with an amused smile.

********

Later that evening, they were sitting on the sofa together and watching a movie. He noticed that Jillian was obviously in deep thought about something. She had a glazed over look about her and he knew it wasn't because of the movie. _Maybe it's the painkillers _he thought.

Finally, she looked at Pete and asked "Why, do you suppose, am I so accident prone?"

Laughing, Pete asked, "What kind of question is that?"

"My kind of question!" and then Jillian continued, "Think about it, in the short time that we've known each other, how many trips have we taken to the emergency room together?"

Now Pete was really laughing and said "Point taken." Then seeing the somber look on her face, he said "This is really bothering you, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is! I feel like a big jinx. Did you know that I could count, and on one hand, mind you, the number of times in my entire life that I have had to go to the doctor or the hospital for anything other than normal check-ups? Five times, Pete! That's all. And the really bad thing is that two of those five times have been within a two-month time frame. That, my dear Watson, is JINXED!"

"No Sherlock, that's just plain bad luck!" and smiling devilishly he said "but I sense that your luck is about to change."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I have the inside track on what's going to happen next."

"Oh? And what might that be?" by now Jillian knew that she was playing right into his hands.

"This" he said, as he kissed her slowly and tenderly; then, pulling away after a moment or so he asked, "Can you feel your bad luck falling away?"

Looking up at him with love in her eyes, she nodded her head and said, "If bad luck is all it's going to take to keep you kissing me like that, then I'm going to go out and buy a dark cloud to hang above my head."

Laughing, Pete said "Let's not press our luck, huh? I'll just play it safe and keep the kisses coming your way."

Jillian chuckled and said "You'll get no argument from me" as she leaned up and kissed him back.

The End

It's a short one, but I just wanted something light and quick to help me recuperate from that last one…that really long, last one. Hope you enjoy it. Feel free to review. Thanks for taking your time to read it.


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